I waited SEVEN months for DWP to pay my carer’s allowance: SALLY TAKES CARE OF IT

I care for my husband who has multiple sclerosis and early onset dementia. He is only 59 and is deteriorating. I work part time in a shop, mainly for respite but the money comes in handy too.

From 1st January my hours were reduced from 15 to 10 per week, which meant I was entitled to Carer’s Allowance. I applied to the Department for Work and Pensions on 1st February, asking for it to be backdated to 1st January. I have not received a penny or any correspondence. Please help.

SR, West Sussex.

Sally Hamilton responds: I am so sorry to hear about your husbands health problems, you have enough on your plate supporting him without having to chase the DWP.

Carer’s Allowance is £81.90 per week for someone who cares for a disabled person for at least 35 hours per week and that person receives at least one of the following benefits, such as the daily living expenses component of the Personal Independent Payment or a Carer’s Allowance.

Care workers will only receive this allowance if their net weekly income is £151 or less.

When you called officials, you were told that they had your claim but that it had been forwarded to an office that was handling claims that had been on hold for over nine weeks. You were bewildered, because by that point 26 weeks had passed. You had asked your local MP for help but had heard nothing back.

You came to me because you were worried about money. You had to resign from your job because you no longer felt safe leaving your husband home alone.

Finances will be tight until January 2025, when you can claim your state pension. From that point onwards you will no longer be entitled to carer’s allowance, but you may still be entitled to what is called an ‘underlying’ carer’s allowance claim if you are in receipt of pension credit.

A premium of £45.60 per week is paid on top of the Pension Credit if you would receive Carer’s Allowance if you were not a pensioner.

You expressed your annoyance not only at the delays, which have cost you over £2,000, but also at the poor communication over the past few months.

You asked whether the delay was because you had previously applied for care allowance and had been overpaid for a short period after returning to work in 2023. However, you quickly repaid this amount and the DWP confirmed that you no longer owed anything.

I asked the DWP what the usual waiting time is for claims but received no response.

However, Mobilise, an informational website for caregivers, suggests the normal period is three to six weeks, although there have been reports of delays of up to 15 weeks.

It looks like your claim has been put into a time machine somewhere. I asked the DWP to look into it so that you could receive this vital financial lifeline. This got things moving and within a few days your claim was approved, including the arrears which totalled £2,165 for February to August.

No explanation was given for the standoff. A DWP spokesman said: ‘We have apologised to SR for the delays she has experienced with her claim. Her payment has now been reinstated and the arrears have been paid.’

My husband paid £5,400 for chairs but then died – now I can’t get any money back

I am 75 and have been reading the Ny Breaking for over 50 years. I need your help. My husband sadly passed away on the 12th June. He was very ill with liver failure and had lost weight.

About a month before he died, he decided he would feel better if he sat in a chair. He asked our children to contact furniture retailer HSL, and a salesman came to our house. He brought a selection of chairs to try to get my husband two chairs, and said he would get a discount if he bought two.

I tried to dissuade my husband but he paid the full amount of £5,400. They were delivered a few days later, by which time my husband’s health had deteriorated and he could no longer use them.

Neither chair has been used and is therefore in perfect condition, but when I asked HSL to take them back for a refund they refused. I have emailed and written to the CEO but have had no response.

LP, Bromley.

Sally Hamilton responds: It seems harsh that your request for a refund was denied under such tragic circumstances, especially since the chairs were never used.

And it seems incredible that such items would have been sold to someone who was so ill. But a seller could not be expected to know how ill he was. According to consumer law, HSL had the right to refuse a request for a refund because your deceased husband had seen the chairs in real life and had them fitted to his size and then ordered them of his own free will.

It is more difficult to return items purchased this way and get a refund unless they are defective.

Since the chairs were not being used, I felt the need to intervene and ask for special attention, so I contacted HSL.

It is a large family business specialising in adjustable and reclining chairs that are popular with people with mobility issues.

HSL’s customer service manager responded quickly.

She said she was saddened to hear of your husband’s passing, but emphasized that it is not uncommon for people to pass away shortly after purchase due to customer demographics, so it is not responsible to allow returns in such cases.

She said that furniture that is returned usually goes to charity and is not resold.

However, she was understanding and said that since the company focuses on customer satisfaction, it would take the chairs back in this case.

When I spoke to you last week you told me you were extremely relieved that the items had already been collected and the £5,400 refunded.

Straight to the point

The cruise I had booked was cancelled so we booked another one that left a day later. I asked Travel Performance if my flight upgrade could be transferred to the departure location. They told the airline to move me to business class but when I arrived they didn’t know. I was in economy and wanted my money back.

Travel Performance will refund £489.

I have been given a recall letter for a Russell Hobbs cooker that I bought from Currys in 2021. I do not want to get it repaired and would rather have my money back but that has not been offered to me. Every time I call Russell Hobbs the call is disconnected and I feel like this is a Currys issue but they keep referring me back to Russell Hobbs.

Currys and Russell Hobbs say customers should follow the advice of the Office for Product Safety and Standards and arrange a free inspection. Currys has now resolved the issue.

I ordered a pair of £90 trainers for a race and have not received them. The courier says the parcel is lost so I need to contact the manufacturer for a refund. I have emailed, called and messaged but to no avail.

The retailer apologizes and says it was overwhelmed with orders, which led to delays in responding to customers. The carrier also apologizes. You have received a refund from the retailer and been given a voucher.

I moved house and wanted to take my BT broadband with me. This was arranged and I waited all day but the BT engineer never turned up. I was later told they could not provide a service in my new home. BT told me to try Virgin. I did and they quickly put me in touch. However, BT then took £406 from my bank account because they had terminated my contract early, which they did not. I tried to speak to people at BT but were fobbed off with excuses.

BT has refunded the early termination fees.